The present invention relates to a dietary fibre product, more particularly to a dietary fibre product based on the husks of grain.
It is nowadays considered that a low fibre diet is responsible for many of our most frequent welfare diseases, such as obstipation, diverticula diseases, colonitis, haemorrhoids, cancer coli and gall-stones. The consumption of dietary fibre prevents the occurrence of the above-mentioned diseases and can be used in the treatment thereof. It is also effective in the prevention of other diseases such as diabetes mellitus type II, arteriosclerosis and obesity.
By dietary fibre is meant those parts of plant cell walls which pass through the alimentary canal without being affected by enzymes. Plant fibre has four main constituents, i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin. In the large intestine or colon it is primarily the hemicellulose and pectin which are broken down by enzymes to form free fatty acids, lactic acid and gases. These substances cannot be resorbed by the human body and instead cause irritation with osmotic activity, which has a laxative effect.
There are several compositions, such as wheat bran, on the market which are stated to have all the favourable properties of dietary fibre. However, wheat bran contains only between 25 and 35% fibre, the rest being starch, protein, fat and ashes. This low fibre content results in a high energy value in comparison with equivalent doses of concentrated fibre compositions.
Furthermore, wheat bran is a residual product and the bacteria content may be extremely high in the order of 50,000 units/gram and a high moisture content, that is above 12%. Above a moisture content of 9-10%, the bacteria are actively growing, and therefore this raw material has very low keeping qualities. The phytic acid content in wheat bran is also high, thus impeding the absorption of minerals in humans since a chelate complex is formed between the phytic acid and the minerals.
Bulk agents are primarily used in the medical treatment of constipation, examples being psyllium-based agents sold under the trade names Lunelax.RTM., Metamucil.RTM. and Vi-Siblin.RTM. and the rubber composition Inolaxol.RTM.. The dietary fibre in these products consists almost entirely of water-soluble hemicellulose. There are also a number of problems and drawbacks associated with these bulk agents in that they offer no documentation of the fibre content, which complicates dosing, they are expensive and are less efficient than wheat bran. Furthermore, these agents are not very congenial since when mixed with liquid they form a gel or mucilage which is found unpalatable, they have a high sugar content and have been known to cause allergies and obstructions in the oesophagus caused by the considerable formation of gel. It should be noted that frequent and protracted use of bulk agents of this type results in drastically increased caries activity due to the sugar content in the products and their gel-forming properties, causing them to adhere to the teeth. The high energy content should also be noted and the fact that the fibres do not occur naturally in our diet, but are obtained from an Indian plant.